Vista Grande Express, a restaurant in the Vista Grande dining complex, has begun using reusable containers as of Oct. 20, sparing over 500,000 single-use containers from the waste stream each year, according to Campus Dining.
“The more times the container is reused, the more sustainable it becomes,” Campus Dining wrote on their website. “The container needs to be reused as little as three times to beat the environmental impact of a single-use container!”
This comes after the Associated Students Inc. Board of Directors proposed a resolution in 2019 to reduce the use of single-use containers in Vista Grande, stating that single-use dishware contributes to significant greenhouse gas emissions.
The restaurant will have a separate breakfast and lunch/dinner menu that changes weekly, and nutrition facts for the food offered can be found on Campus Dining’s website. They will only accept PolyCards as payment.
Students pay for either a small container for $6.95 or a large container for $8.95, as well as a $5 refundable fee that is returned to the student’s PolyCard when they return their container. They can then fill the container with as much food as they want, but the lid must close, according to Campus Dining’s website.
Containers do not have to be washed, but must be returned in usable condition to be accepted. Up to five containers can be returned at one time.